WooPlus, the inclusive community of plus-size people, will add a “Pride Badge” as a testament to LGBTQ+ people and supporters to speak out for plus-size LGBTQ+ people who are often stigmatized or ignored. It also launched a “Pride Month Selfie” campaign during Pride Month.
Research by WooPlus found that 36% of the people using the plus-size dating app are LGBTQ+ people. Compared to other dating apps originally designed for heterosexuals, such as Tinder, which has 12% of LGBTQ+ users, WooPlus shows a significantly higher percentage of sexual minorities. The results of last year’s survey also show that the composition of LGBTQ+ people in the WooPlus community is diverse. This is closely related to their efforts to build an inclusive community that is not only free of body shaming but also embraces all differences such as age, gender, and sexual identity.
While initially designed for more heteronormative dating, WooPlus has noticed the growing calls from its users for more inclusivity within its community, and is taking action.
According to Neil Raman, founder and CEO, WooPlus will offer an exclusive “Pride Badge” for LGBTQ+ people and their supporters. This rainbow-colored hexagonal badge will be placed in the same row as the video certification badge. It will be made available to all users and they can choose to lighten this badge or not. When the idea was launched, it received the support of over 70% of WooPlus users, with a 50/50 split between the heterosexual and LGBTQ+ populations.
“I am not part of the LGBTQIA+ community myself, but I believe that anyone should be free to love anyone else. Everyone should have the same rights as anyone else, no matter what they identify as. I for one will be more than happy to wear the Rainbow Badge on my profile with honor and pride.” -Danni_Maz
“We are all here because it’s hard to find love. I feel the sooner we support a community whose identity is based on love, the sooner we find it for ourselves.” -FiredSushi
During this Pride Month, WooPlus launched a “Pride Month Selfie” campaign. This new campaign asks users to upload a selfie with a rainbow item to express their support for the LGBTQ+ community and choose the topic #PrideMonthSelfie in the app’s internal Moments section. This challenge turned out to be a big success from the start, with hundreds of people in the WooPlus community posting rainbow selfies within just three days after the launch.
In addition to the above-mentioned campaigns, WooPlus will also further standardize the community guidelines. A new “hate lgbtq+speech” option will also be added to the report page inside the app interface. When hateful language is detected on a profile or in the chat function of the app, the user will receive a warning of inappropriate behavior and be suspended for 48 hours. Repeat offenders or someone who makes particularly harmful comments will be permanently banned from WooPlus.
“It is just natural for us to take this step,” Neil says, “Apps for straight, cis-gendered singles have often neglected this type of intersectionality for gender and orientation options. We noticed the dating dilemma of plus-size people, now we want to bring a better experience to the LGBTQ+ people among them as well.”
ABOUT WOOPLUS
WooPlus is an inclusive lifestyle choice for curvy people to feel attractive, confident, and loved for who they are. Today with over 6,500,000 members globally, WooPlus is available on both the App Store and Google Play; it has been featured on BBC, Forbes, People, and more.
For more information about WooPlus Dating, please visit WooPlus.com. You can find WooPlus also on Instagram and TikTok.
